Introduction
Amazon is a top e-commerce site for sellers selling online owing to its wide reach and mammoth customer base. Additionally, Amazon provides various tools for promoting products. Amazon advertising is a holy grail for many sellers who have cracked it right.
Amazon ads appear as suggested products, banner ads, or within product searches. Furthermore, sellers only must pay for ads that customers click on while advertising on Amazon. The system lets thousands of customers check your products, and you pay only for those who are interested in them. Also, the amount you will pay for these ads is completely in your hands as you decide the threshold you are willing to pay for every click.
Pros of Amazon Advertising
With a wide customer base (approximately 300 million shoppers worldwide), merged with the right amazon advertising agency, can help any sellers rack good sale numbers and multiply the revenue. Primarily, people browsing products on Amazon already have a high intent to buy and are at the bottom of the funnel. Thus, it is easier to convince them to buy your product if your ads and listings provide all the relevant information the customer is looking for.
Amazon Advertising Mistakes to Avoid
Here is a list of 7 Amazon advertising mistakes that not only newbie sellers but many Amazon advertising agencies too are guilty of.
1. Substandard Keywords Usage
Keyword research is an integral part of Amazon advertising. Irrelevant or substandard keywords can negatively ramify your campaign and plunge your sales.
Many sellers and agencies mislead Amazon with wrong data to get more traffic and clicks. However, this strategy is useless as it may lead your account to be banned. For example, you used the keyword ‘tie and dye shirt’, however, you are not selling a tie and dye shirt but a normal one. This will lead to clicks but not conversions, minimising your chance to lead prospects into converts.
2. Excessive Branded Spend
Many sellers often feel puzzled when their sales hit a plateau or drop significantly, even though their ad account appears to be performing well. This usually indicates that ads are primarily targeting branded keywords, focusing on the brand name and existing product catalogue.
The primary focus of any Amazon ad campaign should be to reach a new audience. But when you spend too much on brand-targeting, you reach the customers who have already bought from you before. Here, you are spending money on shoppers who know about your brand and products and converting them is easier. This can make your ad performance look good, but it’s not helping your brand grow.
Since you’re not reaching new customers, your overall sales will eventually hit a ceiling or even decrease. It’s crucial to target new audiences to keep your sales growing, even if it costs a bit more initially.
3. Ignoring Negative Keywords
Neglecting negative keywords can accelerate your ad costs without bringing any real value.
Imagine you’re selling running shoes and bidding on the keyword “shoes.” If you don’t use negative keywords, your ad might show up for searches like “dress shoes” or “high heels.” If someone clicks on your ad looking for dress shoes, you’ll be charged for that click, even though they aren’t interested in your product.
Adding “dress shoes” or “high heels” as negative keywords would prevent your ad from appearing in those unrelated searches, saving your budget for clicks that are more likely to convert into sales.
4. Depending on One Type of Targeting
There are two ways (manual and automatic) to approach targeting on Amazon.
Manual targeting as the name suggests, lets you choose which products, categories, or keywords you want to target. It brings control and flexibility to let you control how you want your ads to appear.
Alternatively, automatic targeting takes away the control. You cannot decide what you want to target, rather Amazon will display your ads on product pages and search results when relevant. Here, you need not create keyword lists and search terms.
Both approaches have their set of benefits and downfalls. So, the best way to utilise these approaches is a combination of the two. A manual campaign allows for refining the ads and keywords that work well as per your research, while an automated one gives you scale and new terms to target. Thus, running both campaigns in tandem will get the most significant results.
5. Incorrect Ad Structures
While it may seem appealing to include many product detail pages in a single ad, it can be difficult to identify which products generate strong results when using Amazon advertising.
If you have numerous products attached to an ad campaign, it will be difficult to match clicks and sales to individual products. Hence, it is better to allot one product detail page to one ad group, helping you understand the performance of every product in an ad campaign.
However, if you wish to group more products in one ad campaign to maximise productivity and save time, ensure the products are similar. For example – a green, red, and blue dress.
6. Overlooking the Customer Search Term Report
A customer search report reveals the exact search terms shoppers use to trigger your keywords. This ultimately depends on your objectives, but key data points to monitor in the report include branded vs. unbranded searches, impression volume, CTRs, CPC, and more. Tracking these metrics helps ensure your ads reach the right audience at the most cost-effective CPC.
7. Incorrect Categorising Campaigns
Accurate campaign categorisation is a vital element for successful Amazon advertising campaigns. However, many individual sellers and Amazon advertising agencies unsee this aspect of advertising on Amazon.
In online advertising, a solid structure is key to increasing eCommerce conversions. However, many marketers struggle to set up their campaigns correctly on the platform. As a result, they find it difficult to identify which products are thriving and which are underperforming.
This lack of organisation makes it challenging to determine which aspects of your ad campaigns are effective and which need improvement.
8. Omitting A/B Testing
One frequent mistake in Amazon Advertising is marketers overlooking A/B testing. As a marketer, it’s essential to experiment with different strategies to see what resonates best with your audience. You should test variations of images, headlines, titles, logos, and more to determine the most effective combinations.
It’s also important to demonstrate to customers that you offer quality products. Running A/B tests helps identify what sells the best—perhaps a specific product or design performs better than others. These insights are crucial for refining your advertising strategy and driving better results.
Also Read: 9 Things to Consider While Choosing an Amazon Consulting Partner
Final Words
The ecommerce market is constantly changing and an advertising campaign that may work for one cannot work for another. However, having a hands-on understanding of Amazon advertising do’s and don’ts can help you hit the bull’s eye!
By adopting a detailed and proactive approach, you can steer clear of these common mistakes, resulting in satisfied customers and successful campaigns over time.
We have helped numerous new sellers launch and existing sellers skyrocket their sales with unique and excellent-performing Amazon advertising in Australis and assisted them in selling in other Amazon marketplaces. Our team of experts can also help you with product listing optimisation for higher ranking and heightened sales.
